ANIMATION SHOW OF SHOWS Returns To Park Theatre

Once again, the Park Theatre in Jaffrey is hosting the internationally acclaimed festival of the best animated short films from the past year. The screenings begin on Friday, November 11, at 7pm and continue through November 17.

After a two-year Covid hiatus, the ANIMATION SHOW OF SHOWS returns to theaters and campuses across North America. This 22nd edition comprises ten recent films and one restored classic that deal with the anxieties and hopes of a world faced with a seemingly endless series of existential crises. All are inventive; their tone ranges from the whimsical to the profound; their techniques, from stop-motion to hand-drawn to computer-aided.

"Animation is a natural medium for dealing with abstract ideas and deeply felt concerns, and the ANIMATION SHOW OF SHOWS has always strived to scour the world for the most affecting and engaging films," says founder and curator Ron Diamond. "While the recent films were conceived and some finished, before the Covid lockdowns, all but the most abstract display a concern with the ways in which we are all interconnected...or sadly alienated from our sense of human connection."

This general issue appears in many forms and styles: While "Beyond Noh" cleverly shows the prevalence of masks through all cultures, and "Rain" humorously explores the dangers of groupthink, "Ties" takes the notion of connectedness from the symbolic to the actual.

The nine new films come from Europe, Asia, and North America. The program culminates with a striking restored 4K digital remaster by the Academy Film Archive of Frederic Back's classic 1987 Oscar-winner, "The Man Who Planted Trees."

Tickets ($9/$8) and information about screening times for the ANIMATION SHOW OF SHOWS can be found by visiting theparktheatre.org or calling the box office (603) 532-8888.

The Park Theatre performing arts center is located at 19 Main Street in downtown Jaffrey, New Hampshire, just 90 minutes from Boston. There is a bar lounge, and the facility is fully accessible.

The Park Theatre first opened in Jaffrey in 1922, and was the center of community life as a cinema, vaudeville house, and concert venue for 54 years until it closed in 1976. The theatre was purchased by the newly formed Park Theatre nonprofit in 2006. It has been rebuilt as a state-of-the-art film and performing arts center, featuring two auditoriums seating 433. It presents movies, live theater (including children's productions), concerts, and lectures. It offers a place for business and community gatherings for the Monadnock Region and its 100,000 residents, school districts and dynamic artistic community. The new theatre complex began construction in January 2019 and was completed in 2020. It opened to the public on August 5, 2021.

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